Katy Perry: ‘Rise’ Acts As Sonic Bridge Between ‘Prism’ + Album Four

When Katy Perry released Olympian theme “Rise” last month (July 15), fans assumed the new track would offer a glimpse into where her fourth album may be headed, sound-wise. Not so, says Perry, who claims the track acts more as a bridge between her last album Prism and her forthcoming release.

The "Roar" singer is well aware that “Rise” — while anthemic and appropriate for the Olympics — is not the typical summer banger listeners expect from a pop act like Perry.

"I would never necessarily go with this type of song as the first single in the middle of summer,” she said in an interview with Mashable. "It wasn't obvious as something I would go with for the next record, but it seemed to match the spirit of the athletes.”

Perry continued, saying the track offered her the chance to release something in the interim, as she continues to work on Album 4.

"I've been taking my time making this record and I just wanted to have a bridge of something," she said, "whether I was thinking about doing something for a film or something like this and this seemed so obvious and such a perfect fit."

Perry continued, saying "Rise" was already partially written when the Olympics contacted her about contributing a song for the games.

"'Rise' is a song that I have had swirling around in me. It's a little bit like the story of the phoenix, about overcoming.... Rising up again or finding that inner strength again and again, that's a lifelong theme for me," she said. "Years ago I had tried to write it but it didn't work, it didn't come out right. And when the Olympics approached us it was already half written, and it was one of the first songs that I have written in this next batch, so I pulled it out."

As for what we can expect from KP4?

"It’s too soon to define it,” she said. “I want to let the music define itself when it comes out.”